World

Japan eases COVID-19 travel curbs for China, eight others
8Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore, World

Japan eases COVID-19 travel curbs for China, eight others

TOKYO: Japan has eased travel curbs for China, Australia, South Korea and six other countries and regions, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Friday (Oct 30), as Tokyo steps up efforts to revive its economy while preventing the spread of COVID-19. Japan lowered its infection risk advisory level for Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand, Brunei and Vietnam, besides China, South Korea and Australia, to 2 from 3, telling its citizens to avoid non-urgent, non-essential trips. Under the infection risk advisory level of 3, the public are instructed not to take any trips. Singapore and Japan launched a reciprocal green lane to facilitate short-term essential business and official travel between the two countries on Sep 18. The business track will allow the safe resumption of cr...
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US targets Hong Kong leader but not banks in sanctions report
6Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

US targets Hong Kong leader but not banks in sanctions report

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday (Oct 14) renewed pressure against Hong Kong's leader, accusing her of undermining autonomy from China, but stopped short of imposing sanctions on banks under a tough new law. The State Department issued its first report mandated to Congress under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, a law passed by Congress aimed at making the tightening restrictions on the financial hub costly for Beijing. The report "underscores our ongoing objection to Beijing's actions that are intentionally designed to erode the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and impose the CCP's oppressive policies", the State Department said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. In line with the report, the Treasury Department added 10 people to its blacklist of "Specially Designate...
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In emails, Sacklers fret over wealth, opioid business
6Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, USA, World

In emails, Sacklers fret over wealth, opioid business

NEW YORK: Soon after a Purdue Pharma LP affiliate pleaded guilty to misbranding its addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin in 2007, the company's Sackler family owners fretted about possible threats to their wealth. On May 17, 2007, Jonathan Sackler, who has since passed away, emailed relatives and a financial advisor, triggering an anxious discussion, according to settlement documents US prosecutors disclosed on Wednesday. He told them an investment banker had once told him that his family "is already rich, the one thing you don’t want to do is to become poor.” David Sackler responded the same day: " hat do you think is going on in all of these courtrooms right now? We’re rich? For how long? Until which suits get through to the family?" Between 2008 and 2019, Purdue transferred more...
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Op-ed: More people are creating wills amid the pandemic
6Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Op-ed: More people are creating wills amid the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has produced a rise in estate planning. To that point, a survey conducted for LegalZoom.com found that 32% of young people ages 18 to 34 said they got a will because of Covid-19. What's more, 21% of that age group also drew up a will specifically because they or someone they knew had Covid-19. Of Americans who do have a will, just over a quarter, or 26%, got one because they were fearful of serious illness or death related to Covid-19. However, the majority of Americans still do not have a will. The LegalZoom.com survey found that 62% of Americans don't have a will and, of those who do, 12% created them in the past 12 months — and 44%, in the last five years. More from Your Money Mindset: What to know before investing stimulus money Consider these factors befor...
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Iran reports highest ever day death toll from COVID-19, currency plunges
5Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

Iran reports highest ever day death toll from COVID-19, currency plunges

TEHRAN: Iran announced on Sunday (Oct 11) its highest single-day death toll from the coronavirus with 251 confirmed dead, the same day local media reported two senior officials had been infected and the nation's currency plunged to its lowest level ever. Health Ministry spokesperson Sima Sadat Lari said the total confirmed death toll now stands at 28,544, making Iran the hardest-hit country in the region. Iran had just recently recorded its highest daily death toll four days earlier with 239 new fatalities. A further 3,822 new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hour-period, raising recorded nationwide cases to 500,075. Nearly 4,500 patients are in critical condition. Among those recently infected is the head of the country’s atomic energy organization, the latest senior official ...
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Borrowers to get more time to repay loans as MAS extends financial relief measures
5Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Singapore, World

Borrowers to get more time to repay loans as MAS extends financial relief measures

SINGAPORE: With many borrowers expected to continue to face financial issues amid a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is extending its support measures for various groups of borrowers, including allowing those with property loans to apply to temporarily reduce their monthly instalment payments. Those with renovation and student loans may also opt for a longer repayment period, while small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will get to partially defer principal payments for some loans and receive customised restructuring options. These were announced by the MAS on Monday (Oct 5) as the clock ticks down to the end of the relief measures on Dec 31 this year. Since April, companies and individuals hurt by the pandemic have been able to request to d...
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Exclusive: Chinese regulatory probe delays approval for Ant’s IPO, sources say
5Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, World

Exclusive: Chinese regulatory probe delays approval for Ant’s IPO, sources say

China's securities regulator is probing a potential conflict of interest in fintech giant Ant Group's planned US$35 billion stock listing, delaying approval for what could be the world's largest IPO, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. HONG KONG/BEIJING: China's securities regulator is probing a potential conflict of interest in fintech giant Ant Group's planned US$35 billion stock listing, delaying approval for what could be the world's largest IPO, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is looking into the role of Alipay, Ant's flagship payment platform, as the only third-party channel through which retail investors could buy into five Chinese mutual funds investing in the IPO, the people told Reuters,...
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Trump’s stock market: A wild four years
4Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, USA, World

Trump’s stock market: A wild four years

The Trump rally, a trade war, and then a crippling pandemic: The four years since President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory have been a period like no other for the U.S. stock market. REUTERS: The Trump rally, a trade war, and then a crippling pandemic: The four years since President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory have been a period like no other for the U.S. stock market. Hours after Trump's unexpected win on Nov. 8, 2016, expectations of massive tax cuts and financial deregulation kicked off a stock rally that saw the S&P 500 surge 5per cent in a month. Wall Street continued its path higher through a trade war and impeachment, going on to new record highs following a deep slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic that continues to cripple the global economy. Graphic: Tru...
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Business as usual? Scant enforcement of Madrid’s new COVID-19 lockdown
4Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

Business as usual? Scant enforcement of Madrid’s new COVID-19 lockdown

MRID: Madrid residents were largely coming and going as normal on Monday (Oct 5) despite a prohibition on non-essential travel in the first European capital to return to a coronavirus lockdown due to resurgent infections, which rose above 800,000 nationally. Police said 300 officers were manning 60 checkpoints, but commuters poured into the Spanish capital as usual and few said they had noticed extra controls. With 850 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people, the Madrid area has Europe's highest rate, so 4.8 million people in the city and nine satellite towns came under new restrictions from Friday night. "I haven't seen any police controls. I don't quite understand this situation that they have created," said nutrition student Cristina Canete. Worried about further economic damage,...
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